[ Bengia Ajum ]
ITANAGAR, 30 Oct: A person identified as Waru Nito, a resident of Boginadi village in Kakoi circle of Papum Pare district, is reportedly missing since 27 of this month from the area where a landslide hit the NHPC’s 2,000 megawatt Subansiri Lower Hydroelectric Project (SLHEP) in Dullungmukh in Kamle district.
The landslide had temporarily blocked the diversion tunnel. As per a family member of Nito, he was on a boat along with one more person while working in the area when the incident took place.
“When they were passing through the area, the landslide hit and their boat bore the brunt of the impact. My brother has been missing since then. The paddler of the boat survived but received serious injury and is currently getting treatment in a hospital in Assam,” claimed Waru Nakong Yumta – the younger brother of the missing person – who is also the art and culture secretary of the All Puroik Students’ Union.
He claimed that the incident occurred due to the negligence of the NHPC authorities.
“The area where my brother went missing is a restricted area. I fail to understand how he and his colleague landed up there. It shows that the NHPC did not deploy proper security to stop people from venturing into such dangerous areas,” alleged Waru.
Further, he made a serious allegation that the NHPC tried to conceal the information about his brother going missing from the landslide-hit area.
“After the incident happened, the family was never informed. The NDRF also conducted a search operation but we had no idea. The NHPC tried to hide the information, which is absolutely wrong. Even in their official statements issued to the media, they never mentioned the incident involving my brother,” said Waru.
He said also that the family is still waiting to hear from the NHPC, and will soon file a police complaint.
“My brother is missing but the NHPC is least bothered. They are behaving as if our lives do not matter. However, we will continue the effort to try tracing him,” he added.
